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| From 5 Minutes for Parenting |
By Kelly
Seven boxes of memories are stacked in the spare room right now, waiting for me to shed my coat of melancholy so I can sort through them. It will be a job that requires the emotional detachment worthy of a Vulcan (or Dr. Cox from "Scrubs" ).
Each tub is stuffed to the brim with baby clothes - specifically, baby girl clothes in sizes ranging from newborn to 18 months. Impossibly small fleece outfits adorned with snowflakes and hearts, tiny sundresses bedecked with flowers, little shorts and t-shirts and tank tops that once showed off chubby thighs and arms -- each one is multifaceted jewel in my treasure box of memories.
When we found in December that we will have a boy in May, I immediately said to Corey, "Now I can sort through all the baby girl clothes." Up to this point, I've kept every item of clothing my children have ever worn. I never knew when I might need it again, and I'm anything if not practical.
But now, I no longer have an excuse to hoard. For starters, we live in a small house right now, and we could use the storage space. (Seven tubs of baby girl clothes, I mean, good grief!) Plus, both my sister and my sister-in-law had baby girls this last year, and I plan to give away my favorite outfits to them. It loosens my emotional grip a little to know these sweet clothes will be worn again by my nieces, who are worthy of my offerings.
But I don't pretend this will be easy. When my husband pulled out the tubs this last weekend (since I can no longer bend over enough to fit into our crawl space under the stairs), I remarked that I would probably still have one tub of baby girl clothes to return to storage after The Sorting, because there are some things too precious and too meaningful for me to part with right now.
He smiled, because he knows me. (Even if he can't relate, because he is a Vulcan.)
And funny thing -- he also got out the tub of newborn baby boy clothes for me. I need to go through it and see what we might need for this new little one, especially since he will be born in the opposite season from his big brother.
Somehow, knowing I have one more newborn to clothe and smell and cherish lessens the sting.
Kelly blogs at Love Well. She is currently 27 weeks pregnant with her fourth and final baby.
I'm so excited for you. I keep a tub for all my kids' clothes I just can't part with. There's even some outfits that I didn't even let the same gender wear because they are too meaningful. I've been very good about Ivy's things- my best friend is having her first baby and it's a girl- I LOVED boxing up some of Ivy's adorable things to pass on. That act alone means so much. But of course there are certain things that I will hang in her closet forever.
ReplyDeleteSteph
I'm with Steph. Baby girl, C, wears much of what big girl, M, wore... but some things are in a "keeper" box that nobody else gets! And now C has her own "keeper" box. I plan to use those clothes for a quilt that I will give each on their wedding day... just as my mom did for me. My girls LOVE wrapping up in my baby clothes quilt and I pray their kids will appreciate the same. ;o)
ReplyDeleteWhen I first had B, I was so organized, I had tubs of gifted baby clothes sorted by size and ready to go. But DH was not sold on the idea of another child, so when we moved into a new house, with MUCH less storage, I gave away TONS of stuff, including the swing, highchair, bouncer, the only reason we kept the bed is because B was still sleeping in it. And the family I gifted this all to was super appreciative, they had no family in the area, they were young, and both in the USAF. So it felt great to be part of such a big blessing for them.
ReplyDeleteNow, as I am rebuying all that I donated at consignment sales, my DH is looking at me and asking "Where did all that stuff go?"
There are days I would like to strangle him :)
I did the same this year when my sister in law had a baby girl. I only gave her the really nice stuff--the stuff that wasn't too ratty and stained after my three daughters had worn it. The rest I gave to Goodwill--except for one box of really special stuff I just couldn't bear to part with. That's still in the attic and will probably stay there forever.
ReplyDeleteI don't even know how many tubs of baby girl clothes I have!! I've just been shoving the clothes into empty diaper boxes as Mookie outgrows them. I was SO relieved to learn that Baby #2 will be a girl, and I can use these clothes again! BUT I still have to go through them, and wash them, and sort them by size...thankfully I have a Vulcan friend coming over who will help me to stay on task. :o)
ReplyDeleteI have a wicker basket of clothes from when I was a baby, or maybe my sister. I dunno, but we never used any of it for our daughters and our daughters will never use it for their children either.
ReplyDeleteExcept, of course, that we can't toss it because it's a damn heirloom.
I gotta vote with the Vulcans on this one.
There is (almost) no greater thrill for me than seeing something my girls wore on my friend's baby. I'm not hugely sentimental, but I just melt when I see little Baby T wearing that outfit that looked so adorable on both my girls, and knowing that her sisters will wear it too. Especially those clothes that were handed down to us in the first place; thinking that they have clothed so many babies, and who knows how many more?
ReplyDeleteI do have one small box of clothes that I'm saving for my sister's children, because I want to keep them in the family, and an even smaller box of clothes I will probably keep forever until they are yellowed and falling apart and my great-grandchildren inform me are disgusting. Sigh.
I'm with Louise, my best friend had a boy exactly 3 months after I had my 2nd boy and I love going over to visit and seeing Baby R wearing my Baby B's stuff, which was once Baby M's. It's great that she gets another "round" out of it, and let’s face it - they grow so fast we never get to really enjoy many of their outfits! We're done having kids now, so it's my last little chance to see all the adorable, impossibly small little socks, fleece onsies, and timy warm up suits before they go on to hopefully very deserving little guy via a shelter for battered women and their families in my area.
ReplyDeleteThough I'm crying while typing this, I really do enjoy your weekly updates! You always make me wax sentimental… Yes, I'm like your sister, I love(d) being pregnant too! Thanks so much for your weekly updates, I’m enjoying the journey with you!
I haven't saved much from any of my kids, simply because we didn't have the space. But, as I dress my 2 yo daughter every day, I do feel a little sad that the clothes won't be kept for a baby sister (even though I have many years of fertility ahead of me and may regret not keeping them). I get excited about buying boy clothes instead, which are cuter than ever (especially on Etsy!). I have kept a few of my favorite things from each kid and plan to have a quilt made out of them some day, when I know I am not going to have any more kids.
ReplyDeleteThat is so sweet. Just cherish. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI've already passed on pretty much everything Elizabeth's grown out of. My stipulation was that someday if we need them again (if, if, if) that the passee should give them back. That made it easier.
ReplyDeleteHusband is convinced that we are done now. I have the girl tubs as well, and will now be stocking tubs for a baby boy. I don't know that I will be able to part with certain items until I know for SURE.
ReplyDeleteYou know, we're NOT finding out what we're having this time. I'm partly relieved because it just means I have that much longer to NOT go through the bins of baby clothes that we won't need any more. I imagine Corey smiling with love and adoration of his sentimental wife as he hauls that one last bin back to storage. Gary, however, will not be smiling. I'm drafting my argument now...
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